Nevada 'Do Not Call' Bill in Effect Next Week

A federal "do-not-call" law has been held up by federal court rulings, but the state attorney general's office says that won't stop Nevada's own law aimed at telemarketers from taking effect on Wednesday.

Tom Sargent, spokesman for Attorney General Brian Sandoval, said Thursday the state law, created by AB232 during the 2003 Legislature, represents "a contract with the citizens of this state" to help stop annoying telemarketing sales pitches.

Sargent also said the attorney general doesn't think federal court rulings that blocked the Federal Trade Commission from operating its "do-not-call" registry have an impact on the new Nevada law.

"We're committed to opposing any efforts to undo these laws, whether at the state or federal level," Sargent added.

After less than four months, the federal list already has nearly 51 million numbers. That includes more than 409,000 numbers from Nevada, more than a fourth of all residential numbers.

The FTC is moving ahead with the list despite rulings on Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Lee R. West and on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham. Both rulings are expected to wind up in the 10th U.S. Cicuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Also Thursday, Congress swiftly approved new legislation aimed at ensuring the federal list goes into effect as scheduled next week.

President Bush approved the federal registry last March, although the legislation creating the list passed several years ago. The federal law limits interstate telemarketing calls, although calls from political groups, charities and surveys can still be made.

The federal law would still have allowed telemarketing operations within Nevada to continue calling Nevadans, but that loophole was closed when Gov. Kenny Guinn signed AB232, which lets the state attorney general use the national list as a way to bar telemarketing calls made within Nevada to Nevada residents.

Under the state law, Nevada has until Jan. 1 to decide if it will stick to just using the national registry or if it will create its own list. The attorney general's office has said it will monitor the federal list to see if it's working properly before determining if the state needs its own list. Whether people are satisfied with the national list will be the main factor in deciding to move forward with a state list.

While the Nevada law takes effect on Wednesday, actual enforcement efforts by the state aren't expected until early next year.

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